


The First Love of Daphne Chanders

by Nicolle_Midnight



Category: Queer as Folk (US)
Genre: Friendship/Love, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-14
Updated: 2015-04-14
Packaged: 2018-03-22 20:53:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3743224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nicolle_Midnight/pseuds/Nicolle_Midnight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Our first love always remains in our lives.</p>
<p>Sometimes as a sad reminder. Other times as the sweetest moment of our lives. The way we remember it will depend on our capacity to love.</p>
<p>Note: This story is my birthday present to my dear friend and Beta Kim (Predec2). </p>
<p> </p>
<p>For you, my dear friend Kim (Predec2). Happy Birthday and always be very happy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The First Love of Daphne Chanders

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Predec2](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Predec2/gifts).



> Thank you my dear friend for everything you did for me. This is the least I can do for you. You are the best!
> 
>  
> 
> Acknowledgements: I thank my dear friend Annie-Eliza for kindly helping me with this story as my Beta. Thanks to her I could do this surprise for Kim. Thank you honey!
> 
>  
> 
> I do not own the QAF characters. They belong to CowLip and I only caught borrowed for a while.

1988\. Pittsburgh. Kindergarten.

 

Daphne was very proud of herself. She was doing just as she had promised to her mother. She really is a big girl.

 

 

Daphne did not cry even once, as several of the other children did, on her first day of school.

 

She was very calm and followed all of the directions given by Mrs. Carter, her teacher. Daphne enjoyed the middle-aged lady, with her brown hair and sweet green eyes. Mrs. Carter had been kind and helpful with all of the children, especially those who did not stop crying and calling for their mothers.

 

Mrs. Carter had given stickers to the few children who had not cried and Daphne wore her Minnie Mouse sticker with pride. Her mom and dad would be proud to see how their daughter was brave and attentive on her first day of school.

 

Now, Daphne focused on accomplishing today’s assignment. She was to make a drawing for her mother so that she could give it to her when she came to pick her up at the end of her first day at school. She had decided she would make a beautiful flower and a big heart. After she finished drawing the heart with her red pencil, Daphne started looking for a yellow pencil.

 

She did not want to color the flower with a pink or red pencil like the other girls were doing. She wanted a yellow flower. Yellow was her favorite color in the world and she always preferred yellow flowers over other colored flowers.

 

Daphne began to twirl with her long braid, wrapping the tip of the hair around her fingers. People who knew her knew this meant that she was getting frustrated. But she couldn’t find the color she wanted! She searched her desk and at nearby tables without success.

 

As she searched the other tables, she saw a golden flash at a table to her right. When she turned, Daphne saw a boy with the most beautiful golden hair that she had ever seen. The boy had a lot of different colored pencils at his desk. Daphne immediately thought that he deserved every colored pencil in the world. He was very focused on his drawing and she could tell from here that he was putting his all into it.

 

Looking at him more closely, Daphne realized that he was a very handsome boy. He even looked like the little angel in her nightlight that her grandmother had given her. Her grandmother told her that the angel would always shine and protect her from the dark. Her grandmother had never lied to her. Her angel always had protected her and she was no longer afraid of the dark.

 

 

Daphne loved her angel. And, since the boy looked so much like her angel, Daphne believed the boy could be a real angel.

 

She was not a shy child. Daphne had talked to some of the girls in her class and they drew together, but the girls always rushed through their art because they wanted to play with the toys that were available. Now she was alone at her desk finishing her wonderful drawing. Daphne did not want to play now, she wanted to finish the picture for her mother. But, without the yellow pencil, she could not.

 

 

Daphne decided to ask the boy who looked like an angel for the yellow pencil. She was sure that the boy would lend her the pencil and she hoped that he would like her and be her friend. She realized he was also sitting alone. All of the boys who sat next to him, as well as girls who were with Daphne, had abandoned their drawings and started playing.

 

 

Daphne approached the boy and was delighted when she saw the beautiful castle he was drawing. The castle was amazing! It was so detailed and so well done and it made her remember the book of fairy tales her mother read to her every night. Daphne came to the conclusion that the boy's drawing was perfect.

 

 

She was embarrassed by her drawing. Hers was not so beautiful and definitely not perfect. That made her nervous. She did not want him to see her drawing and think that she could not draw. Daphne still wanted to be friends with the blond boy and feared that, when he saw her drawing, he would not want to be friends with someone who could not draw castles, only flowers and hearts.

 

 

Daphne turned away from the boy. She would just have to color her flower with a red pencil. She hoped her mother would like her flower, even if it was not yellow.

 

 

Before she walked away, the boy saw her and gave her the biggest smile in the world, Daphne’s heart with joy. The boy's smile was bright and lit up the whole room as if he were a little ray of sunshine.

 

 

"Hey! You want to draw with me?" Daphne was now almost certain that the boy was an angel. An angel who shone like the sun.

 

 

Daphne came up to where the boy was and sat down next to him. She realized that he had a Mickey Mouse sticker so Daphne knew he also had not cried, just like her. She believed it was even more of a reason to be friends. But she was still looking at him shyly . She was not quite sure if she should let someone who could draw castles look at her drawing.

 

 

"I want to! But my drawing is not so pretty," the girl regretted.

 

 

The boy looked at her with the most beautiful blue eyes she had ever seen and smiled again.

 

 

"All drawings are beautiful! Let me see it, " the boy said as he reached for the drawing that was in her hands. She was still uncertain in regards to whether or not she should show him her drawing but, even so, she handed him the drawing.

 

 

"It's very beautiful! You made a beautiful heart and a beautiful flower. "He told Daphne very sincerely. Daphne could hardly believe that he liked it.

 

 

"If you color it, it’ll be even better."

 

 

"Do you really think so? Do you really think it’s beautiful?" Daphne was still hesitant, even with the encouraging words of the boy.

 

 

"Of course! Which color will you color the flower? "The boy gestured towards the colored pencils that were scattered on his desk.

 

 

"Yellow. I like yellow flowers," Daphne told him.

 

 

"Me too! Yellow flowers are my favorite," The boy immediately gave her the yellow pencil and Daphne accepted the enchanted pencil. She was more and more comfortable talking to the beautiful and gentle boy.

 

 

Daphne smiled at the boy and he smiled back at her. His blue eyes were shining brightly and it was then Daphne decided that, from that moment on, blue would be her other favorite color.

 

 

"What's your name?" Daphne asked him, needing to know the name of the angel boy.

 

 

"Justin Taylor,” boy stated proudly. "And yours?"

 

 

"Daphne Chanders. Nice to meet you, Justin Taylor," Daphne told him as she extended her hand. Justin reached out and shook it.

 

 

"Nice to meet you too, Daphne Chanders," The angel boy, or rather, Justin said and smiled again. Daphne smiled too. She took the yellow pencil Justin offered her and started coloring the flower while Justin returned his focus to coloring her castle.

 

 

"Your castle is beautiful!" Daphne spoke with admiration for her new friend.

 

 

"Thank you. I like castles and stories about princes,"Justin said as he carefully colored the lake that surrounded the castle with the blue pencil.

 

 

"Who lives in the castle?" Daphne also loved stories of castles, princes, and princesses.

 

 

"The prince, of course!" Justin replied.

 

 

"And the princess?" Daphne was really curious.

 

 

"There is no princess! Only the prince and the prince’s friends,” the boy spoke while coloring the forest that was behind the castle with a green pencil.

 

 

"But who the prince will marry?" Daphne was confused.

 

 

"Nobody! Why does the prince have to get married?”

 

 

Now it was Justin who seemed confused.

 

 

"Every prince must marry a princess." Daphne said with conviction. She was beginning to doubt that Justin really knew the stories of castles, princes, and princesses.

 

 

"I don’t agree! If I were a prince, I would never get married," Justin said with even more conviction.

 

 

"Why not?" The girl was amazed. She did not understand why Justin did not like princesses. All the princesses were beautiful and she was also a princess, at least to her daddy. He had said that to her.

 

 

“Because princesses are girls and girls are silly and annoying," Justin explained to Daphne based on his five years of experience when it came to girls.

 

 

"Hey! I'm a girl and I'm not silly and annoying. " Daphne said as she defended herself against Justin claims, very offended.

 

 

"All right! You aren’t. But I will never marry a girl,” Justin was very convinced of his decision.

 

 

"Then I'll never marry a boy. But if I were a real princess, I would have to marry one, "Daphne was relieved not to be a real princess.

 

 

"So it's a good thing you're not a real princess," Justin was happy that his new friend was not a princess and would not be forced to marry.

 

 

"Yes. Good. "Daphne sighed happy to just be a princess to her dad and not a princess of a kingdom far away.

 

 

The two children continued to color their drawings and Daphne saw that Justin was right. The flower was more beautiful after she colored it with the yellow pencil. Daphne came to the conclusion that Justin, in addition to being beautiful, was also very smart and knew a lot about colors, flowers, castles, princes, and princesses. It was then Daphne decided that Justin Taylor would be her best friend in the world.

 

 

 

1991\. Pittsburgh. Tree house at the residence of Taylor Family.

 

 

Daphne was very upset and frustrated. Justin Taylor was the most annoying boy she has ever known. Luckily for Justin, she has been friends with him for over three years. For this reason, she would not look for another friend.

 

 

They were playing with her Barbie and Ken dolls in the tree house that Mr. Taylor had built for them. So far, Justin had agreed to go along with all of Daphne ideas, even having a Barbie and Ken wedding. He had been against that initially, but eventually went along with it. But now the annoying boy decided that Ken would go out dancing with GI-Joe and leave Barbie alone at the house, taking care of their babies.

 

"Justin, why will Ken not help Barbie take care of the babies?" Daphne did not understand why Justin stubbornly refused to go with the idea like she wanted. After all, the father should help the mother take care of the children.

 

 

"Because he wants to go dancing with GI-Joe," Justin insisted, still refusing to go with her idea.

 

 

"But the dads help moms take care of their babies," Daphne continued to defend her logic, hoping to convince her hardheaded friend.

 

 

"That's not fun. It's much more fun to go dancing than to take care of babies," Justin said, still adamant for Ken to have fun with GI-Joe.

 

 

"Babies are so cute! Why don't you like babies?" Daphne did not understand how anyone could not like taking care of babies.

 

 

"I like babies and I think they beautiful, but they are always crying. My aunt Peggy had a baby when Mom and I went to visit them. He cried all the time and did not let anyone sleep. I do not want to take care of a baby who always cries and can not go dancing,” Justin was very confident in his vision of babies.

 

 

Daphne thought about what Justin was saying. She remembered that Mrs Green, her neighbor, told her mother that her baby Maddie cried every night and that she was going through many sleepless nights.Thinking of that, Daphne had to agree with Justin. Babies are cute, but they cry a lot and leave their parents without sleep. Daphne was not very sure if she would ever want to take care of a baby.

 

 

"Where will they dance?" Daphne asked as she began to warm up to the idea of r03;r03;going out dancing rather than taking care of a baby crying and changing their diapers.

 

 

"In the place where all dads dance while the mothers take care of the babies."

 

 

For Daphne, that seemed really unfair. Why could the dads only go out dancing?

 

 

"Who do they dance with?" Daphne asked. She wanted to find out if moms come out and have fun too.

 

 

"With nobody. With themselves,” Justin informed her. He seemed quite sure about what he was talking about.

 

 

"Justin, when you get married will you go dancing with your friends and let your wife take care of your babies?" Daphne was very interested to know what Justin would do when they got married.

 

 

"I will never marry, Daphne. So I'll always be able to go out with my friends and dance. I love to dance! "Justin exclaimed.

 

 

Daphne felt sad. Justin would rather hang out with his friends than with her. She would miss Justin and it filled her with so much sadness that she started to cry.

 

 

"Why are you crying, Daphne?" Justin was very worried about his friend.

 

 

"I'm your best friend and you will not go out dancing with me," Daphne continues to cry while Justin hugs her and tries to calm her down.

 

 

 

"You're my best friend in the whole world, Daphne. You can always go out with me dancing,” Justin assured his friend. His assurance helped a little so she wiped her tears and gradually stopped sobbing.

 

 

 

Daphne stopped crying and was happier for Justin. He would go out with her always to dance and he would always be her best friend. At that moment, Daphne decided that when they grew up, she and Justin would marry and have their babies, but always call a babysitter so they could go out dancing.

 

 

1996\. Pittsburgh. Basement of the house Chanders Family.

 

Daphne hated Laura Carson. The girl with the long blonde hair, green eyes, large breasts and perfect smile, Justin had been kissing her for more than a minute right in front of her. And the worst part of it was that it was Daphne's birthday party.

 

She also hated Bob Davis. He had challenged Justin to kiss Laura. She especially hated Justin since he had accepted the challenge. And most of all, she hated herself for suggesting this stupid game in the first place.

 

Justin was hers and no one else's. Yet Laura dared to continue kissing Justin, standing there and pulling him closer while Justin was trying to free himself from her death grip.

 

Daphne decided to end this stupid game right now. Laura was grabbing Justin and kissing him for an eternity, not letting him get away from her.

 

She was very upset. Justin was hers and no one else had the right to kiss him, especially in front of her. Justin would be her boyfriend one day. They would go to high school together, dance at their senior prom and, after Justin went to Dartmouth and Daphne went to medical school at the University of Pittsburgh, they would get married and live in New York.

 

For this reason, Laura Carson, even with her long blonde hair and her perfect body, could not kiss and hug Justin with her long arms like a giant octopus grabbing its prey. Yes, Daphne would put an end to that.

 

"It's time to cut the cake!" Daphne said loudly, startling Laura and allowing Justin to avoid the girl.

 

By removing Laura, Justin looked at Daphne relieved and grateful. He took the hand of his friend and pulled her towards the cake. Daphne looked back and saw Laura giving an indignant look to the two friends. Daphne smiled at Laura triumphantly.

 

 

2000\. Pittsburgh. Liberty Avenue.

 

 

"Are you sure you want to stay here?" Daphne parked her car on the corner of Liberty Avenue, where Justin had asked her to leave him. Her heart was tight and she was struggling against the urge to cry. She knew what Justin’s request of her had meant, but she did not want to think much about it.

 

 

She looked at Justin, hoping he would ask her to go home so they could order a pizza to eat while they watched a horror movie at her house. That’s what they usually did when he spent the night.

 

"Yes. I want to stay here,” Daphne knew Justin was still unsure if he was doing the right thing. She has known him for so many years. She could tell when he was feeling conflicted. She knew he needed to find out his true feelings and Daphne feared the answer that Justin would find.

 

 

Daphne sighed, resigned because she knew that when her friend made a decision, he would go to the end and nothing or no one would make him give up. Justin wanted to be there and he would not come back home with her, no matter how hard she tried to convince him.

 

 

"Well, we're here. What will you do now?”Daphne thought she saw a glimpse of indecision in Justin's eyes and it gave her hope that he would change his mind.

 

"I don’t know! Maybe just look around!” Justin was still a little excited. Daphne hoped that the doubts that had arisen in Justin's mind would change the decision.

 

"You’re sure you don’t want me to go with you?" Daphne asked hopefully. She feared for Justin safety in this strange place, so far from where they lived.

 

"No, it's all right! "Justin replied with a renewed determination.

 

"Alright. Then I have to get going going. I’m going to go home, watch a scary horror movie on TV while I eat a delicious pizza,” Daphne remembered to mention food. Maybe that could make Justin change his mind.

 

"And if my mother calls ..." Not even pizza could do it. Justin was still determined to stay there alone.

 

"You're already asleep," Daphne agreed. discouraged.

 

"Yes. Thanks Daph, you're the best friend in the world,” Justin gave her a kiss on the cheek before leaving the car.

 

"You’re welcome! Please be careful and call me if you need me to come pick you up,” She forced a smile that Justin smiled back, only it was much more lively and sincere than hers.

 

Daphne drove away as she watched Justin in the rearview mirror. She knew that tonight would be a definitive point in Justin’s life.

 

There was a time when Daphne suspected that Justin was gay. She came to believe it since she found out what being gay meant. Justin never cared much for girls like other boys his age, he always looked more closely at the boys and especially at the athletes from their school. And, despite Daphne making their friendship clear to Justin two years before, she was interested in being more than a friend to him, Justin made her realize. that even though she loves him, she would not be more than his best friend.

 

Now, her friend was alone in the gay area of r03;r03;Pittsburgh and Daphne sensed that this would change everything for him. Daphne also knew that it would change her.

 

Tears ran down her face. She knew that Justin would never marry her and they would never have children. Daphne was losing all of her childhood dreams one by one.

 

She was losing her first love.

 

Daphne was strong and brave so she made a decision. She wiped her eyes, took a deep breath, and made a promise to herself. She would always be the best friend of Justin Taylor. She would love him forever and would always be loved by him and no matter what happens, nothing will ever change that.

 

 

2000\. Pittsburgh. Saint James Academy.

 

Next morning.

 

 

Daphne was frightened to see the Jeep driving at high speed down the street in front of the school, only to spin right at the drop off zone.

 

 

She sees an incredulous Justin sitting in the back seat and the spray painted word “faggot” in big pink letters on it’s right side, for all to see.

 

 

She saw Andy Thomas say something offensive directed towards Justin.She couldn’t make out the exact words but a beautiful man stuck his head out and said something to Andy, obviously defending Justin.

 

After that, she sees Justin getting out of the Jeep, saying something to the beautiful man. There was another man in the jeep, watching Justin with the man. He looked like he was whining.

 

Daphne sees disappointment cloud cover Justin's face as the Jeep goes away at high speed.

 

She sees Justin approaching her and hands him his uniform and backpack, warning him that Mrs Taylor had called to talk to him.

 

Daphne realizes that Justin did not seem to be listening to what she said. He seemed to be lost within his thoughts, probably thinking about the Jeep and the beautiful man who drove it.

 

So Justin tells her something that makes Daphne’s heart hurt.

 

"I saw the face of God. His name is Brian Kinney,” Daphne sees that Justin’s heart is hopelessly conquered.

 

And it was in that moment that Daphne realizes that the life she knows will never be the same.

 

End.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading.  
> I would be delighted to receive your comment.


End file.
